
To help stakeholders and citizens understand the circular economy, Didier Bourguignon from the European Parliamentary Research Service answers three key questions on circular economy.
To help stakeholders and citizens understand the circular economy, Didier Bourguignon from the European Parliamentary Research Service answers three key questions on circular economy.
The Urban Agenda Partnership on Circular Economy has identified several barriers and bottlenecks regarding the use of secondary raw materials (recycling) or products (re-use) originating from waste streams and has now commissioned a basic assessment of the current legislative framework, the implementation and application of that framework, and the definitions of waste in the context of a circular economy.
Are you an urban waste manager or regulator? Share your experiences and best practice to provide valuable feedback on implementing waste legislation and contribute to recommendations seeking to improve this framework.
Soda production (for the glass, water softening, pulp and paper or detergents industrial processes) generates by-products called lime, which accounts for approximately 40 % of the soda ash production volume.
So far the soda lime has been traditionally used in agriculture as a calcium fertilizer, with limited added value.
CIECH, a leading European soda manufacturer, is seeking for new applications for “post-soda lime” such as new marketable solutions or products (other than calcium fertilizers for agriculture), and launches a competition for best proposals in:
On 5 July a a survey on consumer attitudes to reuse and recycling of electronic and food products was launched in the framework of the EU funded project CIRC4life.
This publication, managed and delivered by C40 Cities, provides 40 thorough examples of practical circular economic initiatives from cities around the world, for inspiration and replications by other cities.
The Climate-KIC Circular Cities project is investigating how city governments can be transformational change agents and creators of smart and sustainable neighbourhoods.
The results are expected to improve how cities manage building, construction and utility waste and, through productively utilizing household and industrial waste streams, can increase the growing perception that what was once viewed as waste can now be viewed as resource streams.
The EU faces multiple challenges (climate crisis, environmental disasters, a lack of competitiveness, falling behind in the digital race, etc.) that it will need to address if it is to ensure long-term sustainable prosperity for European citizens. At the same time, there are two ongoing transitions – the creation of a circular economy and the digital transformation – that could provide the means to address these challenges, if they are managed well.
As the EU and national policymakers are making significant efforts to promote a circular economy on the one hand and a digital economy on the other, Annika Hedberg and Stefan Šipka, together with Johan Bjerkem, argue that it is time to align the agendas as a means to achieve greater sustainability and competitiveness.
This publication:
It suggests that the EU must:
This Discussion Paper builds on the findings of the EPC’s "Digital Roadmap for a Circular Economy" project of 2017-19 and paves the way for a more extensive final study, scheduled to be published in the late autumn of 2019.
The project has been supported by Aalto University and the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) (members of Helsinki EU Office), Central Denmark region, Climate-KIC, the Estonian Ministry of the Environment, Estonian Environment Investment Centre, HP, Orgalim, the province of Limburg, UL, Fondazione Cariplo and Cariplo Factory.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation launched its Circular Economy 100 (CE100) programme in 2013 and includes city and government authorities, universities, and companies. Within the context of this programme, the Foundation organised an Acceleration Workshop in Catalonia May 2019.
To help inspire conversation and policy action concerning inclusive circular business models during the next EU Commission mandate, RREUSE invited EU decision makers to a closed site visit to Les Petits Riens, a Brussels-based social enterprise with activities dating back to 1937.
The fourth edition of the EU "Raw Materials Week" will take place from 18 to 22 November 2019, in Brussels.
Türmerleim is a company that produces adhesives, including for reusable bottles. Its adhesives have a high level of alkaline solubility, making them easy to remove and so promoting the reuse and recycling of bottles.
EuRIC – the European Recycling Industries’ Confederation – and FEDEREC kindly invite you to the 3rd edition of the European Recycling Conference (ERC) on 19 September 2019 at the unique location of the Air and Space Museum in Paris.
Cycle Terre project aims to set up an industrial process to reuse soil extracted from the excavation sites of the new subway and other construction sites in Sevran, France.
During Romania's Presidency of the Council of the EU in Spring 2019, IRCEM began a project to support the development of a circular economy strategy for Romania. With support from the Ministry of Environment, Department for Sustainable Development and other public authorities, civil society organisations and private businesses, 9 conferences and workshops were organised from April to June 2019.
RREUSE, the European network of social enterprises active in re-use, repair and recycling, is organising its third annual conference, in collaboration with the Spanish social enterprise network AERESS and Traperos de Emaús Navarra. This unique event will focus on strategies supporting longer-lasting products through re-use and repair that create local inclusive jobs, provide green products and services and contribute positively to well-being in our society.
REDEL is an energy provider in Italy. Its activities comprise decommissioning outdated energy installations. The PVC Upcycling project aims to initiate a circular model for reclaiming resources by:
Werflink is an online sharing platform on which construction sites and companies and can share equipment, materials, resources, freight space and facilities. The platform has been set up in collaboration with the Flemish Construction Confederation, construction company BESIX, Circular Flanders and FLOOW2, to create a more circular construction sector.
On 31 May 2018 ENEA (the Italian national agency for new technologies, energy and sustainable economic development) presented the Italian Circular Economy Stakeholder Platform (ICESP). This platform, since launched formally on 3 December 2018 in the Italian Senate, is the mirror platform of ECESP at the national level and promotes the Circular Economy by sharing good practices from Italy.
The 2019 edition of the International Stewardship forum is co-organized in Paris by DASTRI and the GlobalPSC with the following objectives:
This year took place the third The World Circular Economy Forum (WCEF), beginning Monday 3rd June in Helsinki, Finland. The Forum is organised by SITRA, the Finnish Innovation Fund.
The fourth edition of the international Circular Change Conference was a meeting of the global circular community, and a platform that sent a strong message to change-makers across Europe that more needs to be done to accelerate the change from linear to circular.
In September 2018, the Danish inter-municipal waste management company AVV, which serves two Danish municipalities, visited the City of Brussels and its surroundings as part of a study visit on setting up effective repair and reuse systems. The visit was carried out within the framework of the TAIEX Peer-2-Peer EU Programme and with the support of Municipal Waste Europe and Bruxelles Environment.
On 19 June 2019, Altstoff Recycling Austria (ARA) and Circle Economy released the Circularity Gap Report Austria, the first measure of circularity for a nation state.
Experts and peer reviewers included CEC4Europe, the Austrian Federal Ministry of Sustainability and Tourism, the Federal Environment Agency, the Federation of Austrian Industries, the Austrian Chamber of Commerce, TU Vienna, the INZIN Institute and the City of Vienna. This landmark report paves the way for nations to lead the transition from a linear economy of Take-Make-Waste to a circular economy.
The analysis, commissioned by ARA, found a circularity rate for Austria of 9.7%, ahead of the figure of 9.1% in Circle Economy’s Global Circularity Gap report published in January 2019.
At the beginning of June, Circle Economy and Altstoff Recycling Austria (ARA) released the Circularity Gap Report Austria, which makes Austria the first nation to measure the Circularity Gap. This landmark report paves the way for nations to lead the transition from a linear economy of Take-Make-Waste to a circular economy.
The call for interest to become a club member of the Consumer Insight Action Panel on circular economy is now open – express your interest today!
One of the Interreg DTP MOVECO (Mobilizing Institutional Learning for Better Exploitation of Research and Innovation for the Circular Economy) project results is the Transnational Strategy to accelerate transition towards a circular economy in the Danube region.
Be transnational – reducing disparities within the Danube Region can only happen through cooperation, capacity building and knowledge exchange across borders. This holds also true for the implementation of the circular economy to make the Danube Region, as a resource poor region, less dependent on imported primary resources.
MOVECO identified key challenges with regard to the transition towards a circular economy and offers recommendations for progress. The strategy further provides the reader with many good practice examples and possibilities to raise awareness for circular economy.
Regular updates on the MOVECO project can be found on this page.
The report was commissioned by the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) to inform a workshop on "the future of the waste sector in Europe: challenges and opportunities for workers" held on 7th December 2017 in Brussels.
The report deals with the following questions:
The report focuses on: